The mysterious case of a woman named Cara
by moonshoesklaine
Summary: Written for this: Hey :) Would you be able to write either a Doctor who (10th or 11th Doctor) or Criminal Minds story where either the Doctor or the BAU Team/Reid find out about an OC's past? She grew up in a toxic environment where her mum was an alcoholic with a prescription drug problem and ended up moving constantly so that the parent's problems would never be found out/so s
1. I'm Cara

The last case had been…tough. They had caught the guy eventually-obviously, but that didn't make it any easier. It had been disturbing too. The killer had been through some trauma in his early childhood and as a result had dedicated the whole of his adult life to hunting down and seeking revenge on all of his classmates from 6th grade.

It had been tense, and as their flight had been delayed due to bad weather, the team decided that the bar down the road from their hotel was probable as good a place as any to unwind.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up, kid. You're telling me that you've never even stepped foot in a gym."

"Mmhmm. You know, the surprising thing about me, Morgan, is that I am very different to you. And this again may come as a surprise to you, but not every man has a strange desire to be composed entirely of pure muscle. I am one of those men."  
"Yeah, but still, Reid-not working out in a gym is one thing. Not stepping foot in one is a different matter entirely. Besides, the ladies love muscle. Right, JJ?"

"Um…"  
"Prentiss?"  
"Sorry, Morgan-"

"Gimme a sec. I'll call Garcia." 

Reid scoffed, "Oh please. Asking Garcia if she loves your arms doesn't count."

"Why not? She's a woman."

"Yes, but she's a woman who idolizes you. She'd love you even if you shaved your head and got the US flag tattooed on the top of it."  
"Huh. I guess you're right. Maybe it's not the muscle that makes me so irresistible. Maybe it's just me." 

He winked and sauntered off in the direction of the bar, muttering something about this being his round. As he walked, the team could see that he was walking with more confidence than usual.

"Great. He's going to be near impossible to deal with now." 

They all laughed, grateful that they were able to put the case that seemed to have come straight from the jaws of hell behind them. It wasn't often that they were able to completely detach themselves from a case, but this one had been so disturbing, and so draining, that they had nothing left on which to fixate.

As Morgan came back, tray in hand, they all reached up to grab their respective drinks, but collectively they sighed when they saw that time had flown by. It was nearing one o'clock in the morning, which, usually, would not be a problem. However, the jet was due to leave at 5:30am, and with the exception of Reid, nobody had packed yet.

Twenty minutes later they had finished their drinks and decided that enough was enough. They stood up to leave, but as they filed through the door, a noise from behind them made them turn around. Reid had accidentally knocked a young girl to the floor. She couldn't have been older than twenty-six, twenty-seven, maximum, but she was so thin that even the weight of Reid's messenger bag was enough to send her flying. Reid bent down and offered her a hand up. She took it, thankful, but Reid couldn't stop the apologies from spewing out of his mouth.

"I'm so sorry. I just didn't see you. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Relax, I'm fine. Your bag weighs nothing." 

She stuck her hand out for Reid to shake. Normally he would refuse, but he felt so bad that he had to oblige, hiding his discomfort behind a tight smile.

"I'm Cara."

"Uh-Reid. Spencer. Spencer Reid."

"Well. It was nice to bump into you Spencer Reid."

"Yeah. You too."

"I'll see you around."

He gave her a smile before letting go of her hand and waving, turning in the direction of the team.

They all looked shocked to see that he had a) shook somebody's hand, but that b) that somebody was a girl.

"She seems nice."  
"Her name is Cara."  
"Did you get her number, kid?"  
"No. Why would I do that?"

Morgan chuckled to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Your game is weak."

With that they all turned on their heels.

Reid thought nothing more of his encounter with Cara from Nevada until three months, two weeks and four days later, when He and Hotch were paired together to talk to the witnesses of the kidnapping of a young boy. This time, the case was local.

"Who are we talking to next?"

"Uh…a Miss Johnson." 

Miss Johnson walked in the room, her hands in her pockets, a blue beanie covering her head. Reid's eyebrows shot up in surprise as the woman lifted her head to meet the gaze of the two agents.

"Cara?"


	2. Reid is clueless

"Cara, what are you doing here?"

"You guys asked me to come here…"

"No, I mean what are you doing _here_? The last time I saw you, you were in Nevada."  
"Oh, yeah. I had to move." 

Hotch cleared his throat and raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Hotch."  
"So, Miss Johnson…could you just tell us what you saw last night?" 

The interview had lasted no longer than ten minutes. They still didn't know enough to catch the S-O-B who did it, however. Cara waited in the waiting room as Hotch and Reid interviewed the three remaining witnesses.

They walked out of the small office space they had been using as an interview area and both frowned when they saw her sitting there.

"Miss Johnson? Did you remember anything else?"  
"Um, no-actually. I was kind of hoping to talk to Spenc- to Agent Reid. Is that okay?" 

He looked to Reid who nodded, confused. Hotch clapped him on the shoulder, telling him that he would be in the car.

"Is everything okay, Cara?"

"Yeah, yeah- everything's fine. Thank you. Agent Reid."  
"You don't have to call me Agent Reid, it's fine. You can call me Spencer."

"Okay, Spencer. I was wondering, um-I don't really know anybody here yet, and I kind of need to get a job soon if I want to survive, so I was just thinking-maybe you could show me around some time?"

He smiled in return and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I-I I'd love to. I can't do it right now though."  
"No, of course not. You must be really busy."

The corners of his mouth twitched.

"A little."

"Well, why don't I give you my number? When you get some time off, why don't you give me a call?"  
"Uh, sure. Yeah, sure. Okay." 

He cleared his throat and smiled as she handed him a small piece of paper, her number scrawled across it in black. Reid smiled internally as he realized that she hadn't paused to write it down; she had come with her number in her pocket.

"Thanks, Cara."

"I better let you go. Criminals don't catch themselves."

"No. No I suppose they don't."  
"Good luck with the investigation."

"Thanks. I'll see you soon, Cara."  
"Bye, Spencer." 

He raised a hand, a slight wave, and tightened his grip on his messenger bag, heading out the door and over to the car where Hotch was waiting.

"You okay?"

"Yes, thank you."  
"Wasn't that the lady from the case in Nevada?"  
"Yeah, Cara. She's just moved down here from what I can gather."  
"What did she want to talk to you about?"  
"She wants someone to show her around. I'm gonna call her when we're finished with this case."

Hotch was speechless. He just stared at Reid, wondering if he knew what was going on. He didn't give any indication that he did, so Hotch just assumed that Reid really was as clueless as he appeared to be.

"Is there something wrong with the car?"  
"No…"  
"Oh, it's just that we're not moving."

"Because I haven't started the car, yet." 

Hotch chuckled warmly, the smile that was so rare creeping onto his face.

"Oh."

He turned the key and started to drive, dialing Garcia on the handsfree.

"You've reached Garcia; what can I do to brighten up your day today? And I hope the answer is blow your minds because you have come to the right place."

"Garcia, it's Hotch and Reid."  
"Bossman! G-man! Boy, I really need to find some new nicknames for you guys. They're killing my creative vibe."  
"Garcia, you said you found some information?"

"No, G-man I implied it. But you're right. You'll never guess who has just shown some major potential in being our prime suspect…"


End file.
